


Across Lifetimes

by xSilverEnigmatic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, My First Fanfic, post-season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 05:38:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15090164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSilverEnigmatic/pseuds/xSilverEnigmatic
Summary: “So do I just stay stuck in bed until they figure out what that laser did to me?” Keith asked with a frown. “How long will that take?”Hunk shrugged, smiling a little helplessly at him. “Pidge says it shouldn’t be too long. Like three days tops. How’s your head?”“Still a bit achey, but it’s slowly going away,” Keith mumbled, prodding at his temple.“That’s good, that’s good,” Hunk said, nodding. “Can you recount what happened at the time you got blasted?”Keith said thoughtfully, “Well, the lion shook and I shook with it and it was intensely painful for a second and then I was out. And then…”Keith remembered the vivid dream he’d had of him and Lance. Looking through dream-Keith’s eyes, he couldn’t see himself but dream-Lance didn’t look like the Lance he’d seen in that vision two years ago, and yet at the same time he did. He looked older, somewhere in his twenties. Keith had been about the same height as Lance and again, their builds weren’t as toned as they were in reality. Not that it stopped Keith from enjoying Lance’s body. He blushed and quickly looked down at his lap.Keith is hit by a laser during battle and starts to have vivid dreams of himself and Lance.





	Across Lifetimes

**Author's Note:**

> I don't write often. It was a hobby years ago that I only picked up again recently. I just love this ship so much I had to write something to let it out. I hope that my writing isn't too bad, I tried my best!

It started while he was with Krolia—his mom. Time was collapsing around them near the dark star as she had explained, and visions of the past and future assaulted Keith’s mind. He was overwhelmed by the revelations of his own past through his mother’s memories and also to-be events (namely featuring a Shiro that Keith didn’t recognize) that were no doubt worrying.

So in the midst of it all, Keith didn’t pay much mind to the fleeting vision of Lance and himself, close together on a couch, watching TV. At first he brushed it off as something that happened before on the castleship, but hitching a two-year ride on the whale-island with his mother gave him a lot of time to reflect back on those visions and fleeting images.

The scene was most definitely not the castleship. The couches were ratty and ragtag and they were watching TV, not some holo-images or other space tech. The floor was covered in carpet and the walls were beige. No teal blue tinted the room, but instead they had been in a dim, warmly-lit living room of some sort.

Later, it also occurred to Keith that it was _only_ Keith and Lance on that couch. They had plenty of room to sit comfortably apart, but the two had been snuggled up together with content smiles on their faces.

Keith soon forgot about the vision, letting himself enjoy some time to relax and get to know his mom and new canine friend. It only ever slipped into mind on his last vestiges of consciousness, around the edges of a dream each night he slept, like a comforting, familiar memory burned in the back of his head.

The vision really came back into his conscious mind as they were taking a break on one of the planets in their coalition. The ride back to Earth without a wormhole was going to be taking a long time, and despite all their eagerness, they needed some proper rest. Keith’s whole body was aching and sore from all the strain he’d put on it, fighting Shiro’s clone and Lotor, and also from the long period of sitting. He was still better off than Shiro, who was still in stasis on the cryopod.

The Krualutans happily set up rooms for the paladins in their huge castle walls on the condition that they stayed for a few days rather than a single night, which they all humbly and gratefully accepted. The Krualutans were an extremely hospitable race, having made the offer mainly because of how worn out the whole team looked. Seeing the tall castle walls of their temporary rooms brought back memories that weighed heavily on all their chests. The aches and pains their last battle left them with had nothing against the hollow aching in their chests at the destruction of the Castle of Lions.

Shiro remained in the safety of the Black Lion where the Krualutans allowed them to land all the lions. Coran had a device that would notify him should any notable changes occur in Shiro’s state of rest. His cosmic wolf wasn’t at all keen to get off the Black Lion yet, and so stayed behind with Shiro. The wolf could always easily find Keith later.

After they all had much needed sleep, they were given a tour of the capital. Many aliens heard of their arrival on the planet and the streets crowded with fans, hoping to see them. During their day out, Keith couldn’t help noticing Allura and Lance had gotten much closer in his absence. The two seemed to gravitate together in a way he wouldn’t have noticed when they were each in their own lions.

Eventually the crowds thinned out and their tour guide allowed them to explore on their own. Romelle and Coran went off on their own, Hunk and Pidge had disappeared a while ago, probably attracted to some new alien tech, and as Keith predicted, Lance paired off with Allura. He tried not to be hurt. He did have to brush Lance off when he finally reunited with his team, but he was too focused on warning them about Lotor to think of a softer way to bypass Lance’s antics. And it made sense that they’d leave Keith with Krolia.

The day passed without too much trouble—well, trouble tended to follow them wherever they went, but they caused no lasting uproars and they didn’t end up suddenly owning another cow so it was a win to Keith.

It had been a long time since Keith slept in a proper bed. He wasn’t able to really appreciate the soft bedding the first night since he was so tired, but now he did. Still, it felt foreign after two years camping out. The light of Krualut’s two moons poured in from the window, casting light into the dim room alongside unnatural shadows. No grass tickled his face, and the last of the earthy smell left on Keith had been washed away in a shower earlier in the day.

Keith lay awake and unable to sleep, staring at the high ceiling. He remembered himself and Lance snuggled together on a couch. Maybe it was a future event? They were going back to Earth, after all. But then he remembered the way Allura’s touches lingered on Lance whenever she was casually talking with him. Lance returned supportive touches with a hand on her arm or her shoulder. It both unsettled and relieved Keith. Lance was a stabilizing presence, and Allura was in a fragile state with the betrayal of Lotor, and downfall of the castleship, the last remnant of the Altea of her time.

It only served to make the vision of him and Lance all the more improbable.

The next morning while Keith was in the shower, he realized something else. Being pressed close to Lance in the vision, Keith could see the other him was shorter than Lance, and both of their builds were smaller, less muscular and more…average, like if they were just normal boys growing up peacefully on Earth, rather than stuck in space defending the universe.

It was all of a sudden not just improbable, but actually impossible.

The vision was all contradictions, tying knots in Keith’s mind. It was a word on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t figure out. Familiar but escaping just beyond his reach.

Keith decided to push it aside. It wasn’t relevant to the present, and he would only stress himself out, thinking about how impossibilities could be made possible. He should just forget about it.

And he did forget about it for a while, other than in his dreams. It flowed through his mind with abandon, comfortable like a warm blanket. And sometimes—sometimes, he’d dream up more of this make-believe world, though it’d all slip away from memory come morning.

It came back to hit Keith—quite literally—in the midst of a battle against some of Sendak’s army. Keith had belatedly realized the largest ship had been charging up a shot while they had been distracted by the rest of the fleet. It was going to hit the Red Lion. Even if it wasn’t an ion cannon, it was still a lethal attack if it made a direct hit.

Keith knew it would be too late even if he shouted out to Lance to move now. He acted on impulse, all thoughts aimed to protect his teammate. The Black Lion flew so fast, it felt like he’d actually warped right between Lance and the laser seconds before Lance would’ve been hit.

He was barely aware of a scream tearing it’s way out of his throat as he took the hit directly, shaking his whole core. It was an instant flash of intense pain and then nothingness.

* * *

 

“Hey, sweetheart,” a voice whispered softly.

It was low and gentle in Keith’s ears, rousing him to hazy consciousness. His senses returned to him slowly. The scent of freshly brewed coffee, a hand rubbing soothing circles into his back, a voice gently urging him awake.

He pried his eyes open, blinking away sleep and sitting up in his chair to stretch out the aches and kinks in his shoulders and neck. The comforting voice chuckled from behind him, and his hands moved to massage Keith’s tense shoulders. Keith let out a content sigh, leaning into the touch.

“Sleep well?”

Keith looked up at his side, meeting deep stormy blue eyes. He smiled at the sun-kissed boy next to him. “Just taking a break. My stupid project for this stupid class is almost done.”

“You love that stupid project and your stupid class.”

Keith sighed, but couldn’t deny the statement. He then noticed the cup of hot coffee placed on his desk and took a grateful sip.

“Why are you still up, Lance? Is the lamp too bright?” he asked.

Lance leaned down to drop a kiss on Keith’s lips and said, “No, it’s hard to fall asleep without you next to me.”

“Sorry,” Keith mumbled, rubbing his face with his hands, “I’m almost done.”

“Why don’t you take a break?” Lance suggested, pushing Keith’s chair away from his desk so he could straddle Keith’s lap. “You looked like you were having a nightmare.”

Keith automatically moved his hands to Lance’s hips as he frowned down at the ground. “Just stress.”

“Hey, look at me,” Lance said softly, his fingers under Keith’s chin directing his gaze back to Lance’s loving smile. “I’m here. You’re not alone.”

Keith’s lips twitch into a small smile.

“Take a break,” Lance insisted again, wrapping long arms around his neck and pulling him into a languid kiss, not seeming to mind his coffee breath.

Keith sighed into his boyfriend’s wonderful mouth, allowing him free reign to explore his mouth with his tongue while Keith’s hands slid under Lance’s shirt, seeking the warmth of his bare skin. They continued for a few minutes, alternating between deep and chaste kisses, relaxing into each other’s warm embrace.

Eventually and very reluctantly, Keith pulled back from Lance’s enchantingly soft lips. The latter tried to give chase to his retreating mouth, as Keith murmured a little dazedly, “I really need get back—“ but Lance had captured his lips once again, his hands roaming down Keith’s chest. “Lance, seriously…“

Keith felt Lance smirk against his mouth, and cursed his body for reacting in interest to the mischievous smile, and then Lance was sliding off his lap and—standing, pulling Keith up with him. Lance placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder and repositioned Keith’s arm so his hand rested on Lance’s waist. Their other hands pressed together held up at shoulder height.

This was not the direction Keith had expected Lance to go and he was utterly confused.

Lance tugged lightly at his shoulder and so Keith moved. Lance followed, a grin breaking out on his face as they did a poor imitation of a ballroom dance. Keith found himself smiling back at Lance, and took hold of his hand to direct him into a spin. When Lance returned to Keith, his back pressed against Keith’s chest and they swayed back and forth for a while.

“There’s no music,” Keith commented, but they were both moving in sync.

They returned to their earlier position and Lance whispered, “There’s the music in our hearts.”

Keith couldn’t help laughing. Lance snickered into his neck, thoroughly embarrassed by his own cheesy line. They continued to shuffle awkward circles around their room in the silence of the night. Lance had no idea how to ballroom dance and neither did Keith, but it still felt perfect.

Keith slid his hand from Lance’s waist to the small of his back as he pulled Lance closer, pressing their bodies flush against each other. Lance managed to smile wider, liking their new position very much. He rested his head back against Keith’s shoulder, and Keith felt him still grinning against his neck. He left one last soft kiss against his neck before bringing his head back up and the moment they met eyes again, Lance leaned in and kissed Keith’s mouth, as if unable to keep his lips away.

At this point, they had been directing each other in circles in one spot of the room, neither feeling inclined to move anymore except around each other in an increasingly fast spin, making the world move around them except for each other. Keith let the world blur out, Lance becoming his constant in front of him.

Keith bit his lip, staring at Lance through half-lidded eyes and he heard Lance’s breath catch in his throat. Just as he accepted his fate of not finishing his project tonight, Lance suddenly stopped, and they both held each other tight, wobbling a little as they left the small dizziness pass. Then Lance was asking innocently, “Do you still not want to take a break?”

Keith gripped Lance impossibly closer against him in response, and Lance grinned, accepting that as an answer. He pulled Keith’s hand away from his back and grabbed both his hands tight.

“We’re going to spin as fast as we can,” was his only warning and then they were in motion, shrieking and laughing uncontrollably, holding each others’ hands tight to fight against the spinning pressure pulling them apart. The world really did become a blur except for Lance. Keith couldn’t take his eyes off his wonderful distraction of a boyfriend, his breath quite literally being taken away by him.

They eventually crashed into their bed, landing harshly into the mattress, Lance pinning Keith down against it by his hands which he still held. A broad smile practically broke Lance’s face in half and Keith’s chest constricted and Keith knew—he knew—

Lance shifted his hands so they lined up with Keith’s, palm to palm, and he could easily interlock their fingers together, but his fingers trailed along his palms instead as he slid away from him.

“There, you feel much better, don’t you? Well, I should leave you to your project,” Lance said nonchalantly, making to leave their bedroom.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Keith huffed, pulling Lance back into the bed. Lance yelped in surprise then laughed as Keith pounced him.

* * *

“Keith! Keith! You’ve got to wake up. You have to…”

Distant voices filtered through Keith’s pounding head.

“Please, please, keep breathing…”

Someone was holding his shoulder tightly, hand trembling.

“No no no, i-it’s all my fault, he was protecting me…”

“Lance, focus! Hunk took down their main ship, we just need to finish the rest of these guys and then we can get Keith out of here!”

“Y-yeah, got it. Hang in there, buddy…”

At first, he was confused about where he was. He had been in a warm bed, but suddenly he was sitting and someone was shaking him and calling his name insistently. Pain flared up in his head and everything came back to him.

One of Sendak’s fleets. Main ship’s laser. Protecting Lance.

Keith’s whole body was sore and he was faintly awake, but he could tell the Black Lion was fully functional and urging him awake through the searing pain in his head. Keith suddenly remembered his mom and Shiro and shook himself awake, wincing as the pain in his head acted up from his sudden movement.

“Keith!” Krolia sighed in relief, looking much better than Keith felt.

His lion sent him waves of reassurance—Shiro was also okay. Relief washed through him and then shame, realizing he had forgotten he should also be protecting these two, not putting them in danger with his reckless behavior. He thought he’d outgrown that after those two years away.

He pushed his shame aside quickly, focusing on the situation. Pidge and Hunk flanked either side of him, fighting off the few ships that managed to stray past Lance and Allura.

Keith took hold of his controls and said, “Sorry about that. We’re okay. The hit wasn’t as bad as it looked. Let’s finish these guys.”

He piloted his lion to Allura and Lance, to assist them as they all shouted his name in relief. The remaining few ships seemed to realize they wouldn’t be winning this round and retreated.

The team had a few seconds of celebration before Pidge said, “We need to get to Frira.”

“Frira?” Allura repeated. “We should go to the nearest peaceful planet for rest. That planet is rather far.”

“It’s the nearest ally planet that has technology we could use to check Keith’s condition,” Coran explained. He had moved from Allura’s lion to Pidge’s so they could work together on mapping their route and finding planets where they could rest or restock.

“I’m fi—“ Keith started but Pidge interrupted, “Keith, we all heard your scream when the beam hit. You may have been out for only a few minutes, but Krolia said you were barely alive for that time. Krolia and your lion hadn’t been affected by the beam at all other than being roughed about by the hit for a second. I think the laser was meant to target the pilot of whichever lion they shot without damaging the lion.”

“Wait a second, if they prepared that laser specifically against robot lion pilots, wouldn’t that mean they knew our general location?” Hunk asked.

“What?!” Lance exclaimed. “Do they know where we’re headed?”

“I highly doubt it,” Pidge said, and Keith heard Lance exhale in relief. “My guess is that we were sighted by some of Sendak’s allies and so he sent a fleet to intercept the general direction we were sighted going toward. And it would make sense why it was such a small fleet if their main goal had been to use that laser on us.”

“If that’s the case, we need to reroute our course to Earth and make sure they don’t discover where we’re headed,” Allura said grimly.

“Already on it, Princess,” Pidge said. “I’ll let Matt know to meet us at a different planet, but for now, we have to get to Frira.”

The team agreed and they moved fast. The pain in Keith’s head remained all the while but had ebbed into a throbbing ache rather than the searing pain it had been when he woke up.

“Keep us updated on your state, Keith,” Pidge instructed. “How are you feeling right now?”

Keith checked his pulse in his neck for a moment and said, “Well, I’m alive for one. Heart rate normal, breathing normal. Head hurts though.”

“How bad?”

“Just pounding a bit,” Keith said.

“Pidge, could you lay off the interrogation until we actually land?” Lance huffed. “Keith, just let us know if your condition changes or worsens, okay?”

At the sound of Lance’s voice, he remembered his dream and heated up. “Um, yeah,” Keith mumbled, glancing at his mom who stood next to him, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Keith’s acting suspicious,” Krolia spoke into the comms without hesitation. “He got shifty the moment Lance told him to let us now if his condition changes.”

“Wha—“ Keith started but his indignation was overwhelmed by the rest of his team.

“I got it, I got it!” Keith shouted over them. “I will let you know if something happens, okay? Geez.”

They came to Frira fairly quickly, thanks to their lions’ determination. And in that time, Shiro finally awoke from his cryo-sleep, to Keith’s greatest relief. Frira had a landing where their lions could rest and were more than eager to house them in one of their huge hospitals, granting them access to their technology. Keith was a popular paladin amongst the Frirans, much to his surprise, considering he had left the team for an extended period of time. He didn’t think the moody persona Allura drew up of him in their performances would have gathered him much fans.

Still, the crowding attention made his head hurt more and he willed their group to reach the checkup room faster. Even with the crowds gone though, it wasn’t any better once they reached the room. Pidge, Hunk, and Coran worked together with the Frirans to understand their tech and they all got in Keith’s space, poking and prodding him and making him go through their alien procedures. Krolia and his time wolf stayed faithfully by his side for the first few minutes, but after confirming it was okay with Keith, the two left to explore the city.

Allura and Shiro had to leave them earlier to discuss matters with one of the leaders of the planet, as Allura had done on the other planets they had visited to tentatively explain the new circumstances with Lotor’s betrayal and their uncertain alliance with the Galra Empire without causing too much upset. Romelle, being more comfortable with a fellow Altean, followed after Allura.

And Lance… He didn’t know where Lance was. He didn’t leave earlier with Allura’s group, but he disappeared at some point later. Keith glanced around while some Friran seemed to grope him all over. The alien was very enthusiastic about it and he half suspected this wasn’t actually part of their checkup. 

Finally, when all the scanning and touching was finished, they led Keith to his temporary quarters in the hospital. Hunk pulled away from Pidge and the others to accompany Keith and sat in the chair next to the bed Keith occupied.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Thoroughly molested,” Keith muttered.

Hunk laughed and said, “Yeah… Sorry, man, just bear with it for a little while. The most annoying part’s over, and now it’s just making sense of all the data. That’s more Pidge’s thing than mine.”

“So do I just stay stuck in bed until they figure out what that laser did to me?” Keith asked with a frown. “How long will that take?”

Hunk shrugged, smiling a little helplessly at him. “Pidge says it shouldn’t be too long. Like three days tops. How’s your head?”

“Still a bit achey, but it’s slowly going away,” Keith mumbled, prodding at his temple.

“That’s good, that’s good,” Hunk said, nodding. “Can you recount what happened at the time you got blasted?”

Keith said thoughtfully, “Well, the lion shook and I shook with it and it was intensely painful for a second and then I was out. And then…”

Keith remembered the vivid dream he’d had of him and Lance. Looking through dream-Keith’s eyes, he couldn’t see himself but dream-Lance didn’t look like the Lance he’d seen in that vision two years ago, and yet at the same time he did. He looked older, somewhere in his twenties. Keith had been about the same height as Lance and again, their builds weren’t as toned as they were in reality. Not that it stopped Keith from enjoying Lance’s body. He blushed and quickly looked down at his lap. 

“And then…?” Hunk prompted.

“And then I woke up,” Keith finished, looking at Hunk firmly and hoping his cheeks weren’t too flushed.

“So…you were out and then you woke up, like in an instant?” Hunk asked.

“No, I…dreamt for a while,” Keith mumbled.

“Do you remember your dream?”

“No,” Keith replied too quickly and shrunk away a little when Hunk raised a confused eyebrow at him. He amended, “I do remember, but it wasn’t anything important.”

“Are you sure?” Hunk inquired a touch cautiously.

Keith thought of his Lance, of the way he and Allura had been basically attached at the hip whenever they landed on a planet. He was able to meet Hunk’s face calmly this time, if not a little sadly.

“Yeah. I dreamt of impossibilities that have no place in reality.”

***

Keith was finally left alone after several more useless questions. While his head did feel a bit tender, he wasn’t sleepy-tired, so he stared up at his ceiling, keeping his mind carefully blank. A soft creaking noise alerted Keith to someone slowly opening his door. He turned to see someone poking their head into the darkened room.

“Keith?” Lance’s voice whispered.

Keith sat up, careful not to rattle his head and said, “Lance? What are you doing here?”

He reached over and touched the orb by his bedside, washing the room with a dim blue light. Lance looked relieved to see him and stepped into the room, closing the door quietly behind him before sitting in the chair beside the bed.

“I got tired of wandering the hospital aimlessly,” Lance said with a bitter smile.

Keith could only assume Lance had been alone this whole time by that expression. He couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t you accompany Allura, Shiro, and Romelle?”

Lance’s smile faltered and he looked down for a second. He quickly looked back up at Keith and said, “All that diplomacy stuff puts me right to sleep. But more importantly, are you okay? How’s your head?”

Lance’s concern made Keith pause, but he responded, “The headache is almost gone. I feel completely fine otherwise.”

Keith watched Lance’s hands tighten and his leg begin to bounce. He looked up to see guilt all over Lance’s expression, made worse in the unflattering light from the orb, casting unnatural shadows across his face.

“I’m _so_ sorry, I should’ve noticed that ship was about to hit me, I let my guard down because the fleet was small—“

“Don’t apologize,” Keith snapped. Lance flinched and Keith mentally hit himself as he tried for a softer tone. “I’m not mad at you. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get hurt. We have to have each others’ backs.”

“Yeah…I know,” Lance murmured, looking down with a frown.

“Hey, look at me,” Keith said gently, reaching out on impulse, fingers brushing under Lance’s chin and making him look back up at Keith. He smiled reassuringly at him when Lance met his eyes and said, “I’m here. You’re not alone.”

Lance’s breath hitched. Panic flared up in Keith’s chest as he wondered if Lance was about to cry, but his frown had been wiped off his face, replaced by a stunned one. Keith then realized he was still cupping Lance’s chin and drew his hand back quickly.

Shit, shit, shit. His dream was affecting him more than he thought.

“Wow,” Lance said a little breathlessly then laughed a little.

The panic that was building up in Keith’s chest eased at the sound. Lance was smiling.

“You really have grown up,” Lance remarked, looking vaguely impressed but also sad. “Sort of feels like you’re leaving us behind with all that growing up you’ve done.”

Keith was taken aback by the honest admittance and how much the idea of Keith leaving them behind saddened Lance. He grabbed Lance’s shoulder and said firmly, “I already left the team once. I’m not leaving again.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he was suddenly reminded of his mom.

_“I left you once. I’ll never leave you again.”_

And then—

_“I left to protect the person I love most… You.”_

He thought he finally understood why she left. He thought she was putting her mission first, but the truth was, as she said, she left for the person she loved most, to protect Keith. Keith left Voltron…mostly for Lance. The implication of _why_ he left for Lance had Keith’s grip on the other boy’s shoulder tightening ever so slightly. Lance stared at Keith, looking stunned all over again, before he finally smiled, _genuinely_ smiled. 

“Thanks, Keith,” Lance said. Keith’s hand fell from his shoulder reluctantly as Lance got up. “I’ll see you… And you better rest now.”

Once Lance was out the door, the emptiness of the room seemed to weigh down on Keith and he wished Lance would come back to fill it. Keith touched the orb and darkness surrounded him as he laid back on the bed to sleep.

His headache was clearing to nothing more than a slight pressure, no longer distracting him from sleep. He slipped easily into unconsciousness this time.

* * *

 “Ugh, get a room, you two,” Pidge’s voice said, full of exasperation.

Keith attempted to break away, but Lance continued to push his lips insistently against Keith’s. Lance had him trapped against the arm of their couch, so he couldn’t really escape. Lance kissed him a bit more and moaned exaggeratedly just for their audience. Pidge gagged while Keith pushed Lance away, biting back a smile and failing as he rolled his eyes.

“Are they done?” Hunk squeaked. He was behind Pidge with his hands over his eyes. “I swear every time we tell them we’re coming over…”

“It’s on purpose,” Pidge sighed, plopping down on the couch opposite Keith and Lance. Hunk followed suit, hands still covering his eyes as he clumsily made his way over.

“Relax, Hunk, we’re not doing anything,” Keith said and when Pidge gave him a look, he amended, “anymore.”

Lance twitched next to him as if ready to jump Keith the moment Hunk uncovered his eyes. Keith squeezed Lance’s hand in warning.

Hunk sighed in relief. “Oh, just hand holding. That’s good. That’s cute.”

Shiro strolled into their apartment followed by Allura at that moment chuckling at Hunk’s comment. “Remember when they could barely hold hands without getting embarrassed? I miss those days.”

Shiro and Allura squeezed onto the couch next to Pidge and Hunk. They already knew to leave Keith and Lance their own space from experience.

“It’s still better than when they were angsting around each other,” Pidge snickered.

“We’re still right here, you know,” Lance scowled.

Keith brushed his thumb over Lance’s knuckles and his indignation immediately defused as he leaned his shoulder against Keith’s.

Pidge was gagging again and muttered, “Okay, maybe it was better when they were dancing around each other like idiots.”

Lance grinned cheekily at Pidge. “You’re just jealous you don’t have a super hot and loving boyfriend!”

All of their friends groaned in unison as Lance cuddled up against Keith who in turn, stroked Lance’s hair adoringly.

“It’s been a whole year and a day! Shouldn’t they have gotten over their honeymoon phase already?” Pidge demanded. “Just seeing them makes the rest of the world angry!”

“To be fair, they still argue a lot,” Hunk said with a smile. “It’s adorable. It’s like they’re already married.”

“I demand a divorce,” Pidge said testily.

Shiro chuckled and said, “Let them be. Their one-year anniversary was just yesterday.”

“And continued aaall night,” Lance said suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.

He let go of Keith’s hand in favor of snaking his arm around his waist and pulling him close with an almost possessive grip. Keith felt his face flame up while everyone groaned again, this time burying their faces in their hands.

“Alright, let’s just get to it, shall we?” Allura suggested encouragingly. “We agreed on a movie night, and we’re doing a movie night!”

***

“Agh, I’m beat,” Lance sighed, flopping face first into their bed. “I thought Shiro would never leave. I swear he nags more than my mom does.”

Keith chuckled as he climbed into bed next to him. “He’s just concerned for our well-being, you know that.”

“Yeaaah, I knoow,” Lance muttered childishly, bottom lip sticking out in a pout. He then crawled on top of Keith and said, “I was just hoping to have more time to ourselves for _other_ activities tonight.”

Keith laughed, pushing Lance off. “You are insatiable.”

He rolled onto his side to face Lance who was grinning at him. Their legs tangled together then they were leaning toward each other, lips meeting in the middle. Their kiss remained gentle, lips sliding over lips. Keith carded his fingers through Lance’s short hair until it cupped the the back of his neck and he pulled Lance marginally closer. One of Lance’s hands landed on Keith’s hip while the other reached out to find Keith’s had on the bed. Their palms pressed together and then Lance was pulling away. Keith let his eyes remained closed, letting the pleasant echo of Lance’s lips against his fade before he slowly opened his eyes.

Lance stared back at him, eyes intent yet incredibly soft. Keith knew his expression reflected Lance’s. In between them, their fingers slowly interlocked, and a smile broke through Lance’s face. Keith smiled back.

Lance drew close again, eyes half closed. Keith suddenly remembered this was a dream.

“I love you,” Keith whispered brokenly just before they could kiss again.

Lance laughed, his breath ghosting over Keith’s lips. “You said that yesterday.”

Keith’s grip on Lance’s hand tightened. “Because I mean it.”

Lance looked at him intently and whispered, “I know.” His hand moved from Keith’s hip to caress his cheek. “Me too.”

* * *

 

Keith could almost feel a thumb faintly brushing under his eye when he awoke, but he was alone in an alien room. He sat up abruptly, startled to realize he was crying. His headache was pretty much gone, reduced to a light pressure that Keith barely felt, or quite possibly caused by the influx of tears suddenly wanting to escape his eyes. He touched his wet cheek in confusion.

 Why was he crying? His dream hadn’t been sad. 

_Maybe that's the reason._ A tiny voice in Keith's head suggested.

Keith rubbed his arm over his eyes, wiping away the last of the waterworks. Just when he was about to get out of bed, the door slammed open and Pidge marched in, Lance and Hunk close behind.

When she spotted Keith sitting up, she said, “Oh good, you’re already awake. I spent the night tinkering with some of the Frirans’ tech and I need to do some more scans on you. It might take longer, but I have a theory that I need to test.”

“O…kay?” Keith said, feeling a little dazed at the sight of Lance. For one crazy second, he wondered why Lance wasn’t coming over to give him a a hug or kiss or some other form of affection, and then he almost brought his hand up to physically smack himself. He settled for scolding himself angrily in his mind. _That was a dream, you idiot!_

Noticing his spacey expression, Pidge’s business tone fell away to concern as she asked, “Are you okay? Has there been any changes to your condition?”

Keith snapped back to the present and nodded at her. “Sorry, I just woke up,” he said hastily, as he got out of the bed. “My headache’s pretty much gone though.”

“Really? Well, that’s a good sign, I think,” Pidge said uncertainly. Concern was etched into her expression as she stared at Keith for a moment longer. “Well, if you’re sure you’re okay… Let’s go.”

She turned and moved past Hunk and Lance who waited for Keith to slip between them before they started walking after Pidge.

“You sure you’re okay?” Hunk asked him.

“I’m fine,” Keith sighed, running a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. “All my organs are where they should be and functioning as they should be.”

Hunk looked properly satisfied by Keith’s response. Keith snuck a glance toward his other side, startled to see Lance looking back at him. Their eyes locked and Keith couldn’t turn away.

Keith had seen those same eyes, vulnerable and unguarded next to him. For a nanosecond Keith flitted his eyes down to Lance’s lips, lips which had whispered to him in the night, _“Me too.”_

Keith turned back forward abruptly, hoping no one noticed he was walking more stiffly, all too aware of the boy next to him.

Lance didn’t say anything the whole walk to the equipment room, which only set off Keith’s nerves. He focused at the task at hand. New scans, right.

“Did you not get any useful info from the first scans?” Keith asked.

Pidge glanced at Keith as she got the equipment set up. “Well, we got info, alright,” she started slowly. Keith felt his eyebrow twitch as a tinge of old impatience got to him, but he reeled it in. “I couldn’t be sure if the equipment the Frirans use could accurately assess a different race’s condition, so I just modified these to be tuned more to you specifically so I could make sure of things.”

Pidge frowned as she concentrated on getting Keith hooked up to one of the machines. Hunk helped her with setting it up, and Lance stood in the room, looking uncertain.

“You could sit while you watch, Lance,” Keith told him.

Lance looked at Keith in surprise but quickly schooled his expression into a broad smile. “Aww, it’s nice to know you want me near, mullet. It’s almost as if you don’t hate me.”

Keith gawked at his joke as Lance sat in the chair by what looked similar to an operations table that Keith sat on.

“Hey, learn to take a joke,” Lance said with forced nonchalance when Keith only continued to stare dumbfoundedly. He quickly changed the subject, turning to Pidge. “So what did the old scans even say about Keith?”

Pidge didn’t respond immediately, but her frown was worrisome. “Well, nothing is wrong physically.”

They all looked at her questioningly.

“But that’s what’s strange,” Pidge went on. “That laser definitely did _something._ If it’s not something physical, the Friran scans won’t catch it, because all it can say is that his physical health is okay. But if the laser did something to Keith’s mind, I’m hoping my modifications can catch something.”

Hunk examined the mechanism on Keith’s head and gasped. “Ohhh, these are similar to the mind thingies we had to use to help us form Voltron.”

“What!?” Lance and Keith shouted at the same time. Keith continued in alarm, “You’re gonna look into my mind?”

“Not entirely,” Pidge said quickly. “Just your brain activity. I’ve also got you hooked to quintessence monitors to track your quintessence also.”

“What are these theories you’re testing out?” Keith asked, not at all reassured.

“Quintessence is basically life energy, right?” Pidge said. “So I wondered if they did something to your quintessence, since you were barely alive for several minutes after being shot.”

They all winced at her wording, but she barreled on, “And considering your lasting headache, I hoped looking at your brainwaves might clear something up. Having said that, I’ll need to monitor you while you’re asleep too.”

“Can’t you just, like, recreate the laser somehow?” Lance suggested.

“Reverse engineering,” Hunk said, nodding. “I salvaged part of the laser machine in my lion after shooting the ship down, but the machine’s mostly broken and completely nonfunctional.”

“Hmm, well it’s better than nothing,” Pidge said thoughtfully. “Hunk, we should look at it together later.”

Lance brightened, happy to have contributed to the conversation.

“I still want to do these tests though,” Pidge said, staring at her holoscreen as data spilled through.

Keith sighed in resignation. “Do what you must.”

Pidge typed at light speed, the screen’s light reflecting a blur of data off her glasses. She hit one last key before slumping back in her chair. “I just finished. And everything’s still normal!”

“Maybe the laser really didn’t have any lasting effect other than knocking him out for a few minutes?” Lance asked more than said.

Pidge shook her head, obviously frustrated. “No, it did something. I’m certain of it. I just have this really bad feeling and only once we’ve tried every possibility will I brush it off as paranoia, but I’m rarely wrong, Lance.”

“I…I get that, but maybe you should rest for a bit,” Lance suggested.

Keith looked at Pidge, her messy hair even messier than usual, and the bruises under her eyes, signifying her lack of sleep.

“I agree with Lance for once,” Keith said. “Something may come to you after you’ve let your mind rest.”

Pidge rubbed her face vigorously and said, “I will soon, but—actually, you should be the one to go to sleep, Keith, and I’ll see if anything changes then.”

“I just woke up though, I can’t just go back to sleep right now,” Keith pointed out. “Get some rest and then maybe look at the laser with Hunk and then you can monitor me in my sleep.”

“Yeah, I’m on board with them, Pidge. It’s a unanimous vote,” Hunk said.

“Excluding me.” Pidge stared stubbornly at the three of them for all of three seconds before she sighed, “Fine.”

She wobbled out of the room and as he was following her out, Hunk said to Keith and Lance, “I’m gonna make sure she actually goes to sleep. You guys can go ahead and find Allura and Shiro having breakfast on the first floor.”

They gave affirmative responses and he was gone. Keith was suddenly aware it was just him and Lance alone in the room.

“Should I help disconnect you from all those machines?” Lance asked with a snort.

Keith examined his body and saw he was tangled up in a mess of wires and nodded, however the moment Lance’s hand brushed Keith’s bare arm, pain flared up in his head and he gasped in shock, jerking away as if he’d been burned. He held his throbbing head, feeling like it would burst, and through the buzzing in his ears, he could hear Lance calling out to him in worry.

He also glimpsed the some of the monitors, noting somewhere past all the agony happening in his head that the data was going crazy.

* * *

 

Keith gasped awake, sweaty and uncomfortable. The room was dark. He was itchy and wanted to crawl out of his own skin. He just felt wrong. He didn’t recognize where he was. Panic set in cold and fast, and he was sitting up, ready to dash out of the room and find Pidge and tell her _something was wrong._

But then arms were sliding around his waist. A warm body pressed up from behind him. His heart rate immediately began slowing down and he relaxed into the warm embrace. Comforting kisses pressed against his neck and Keith hummed in approval, tilting his head to expose more neck in an invitation for more. Lance chuckled, dropping more drowsy kisses on his jaw, neck and shoulder.

“You okay?” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

Keith sighed, turning his head to capture Lance’s lips. After a while of sharing lazy kisses, he said, “I am now.”

“Good. Now go back to sleep, it’s way too early to be up,” Lance grumbled, pulling Keith back down on their bed. Lance lay half on him, his face nestled in Keith’s neck, which he pressed one last lazy kiss against and then he was dozing off.

Careful not to rouse him, Keith reached for his phone on the drawer next to the bed and checked the time. It was 5am, Saturday. He stared longer at his homescreen, which depicted a selfie of him and Lance making silly faces. He frowned at it for a second, trying to remember when they had taken it.

For a second, it felt like panic would overtake him again, but Lance’s weight on his chest grounded him. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

That’s right. Keith finally finished his final research project for astrobiology which he had pulled all nighters to write up. The professor was so impressed with the finished product that he recommended Keith to several astronomy programs. A few good ones had sent him letters, offering him scholarships, but he hadn’t wanted to go to any of them. He wanted to go to the Garrison’s space program. It was the reason he moved here for university.

When he received an acceptance letter from the Garrison, he had immediately run to Lance to show it off and Lance had laughed and hugged him, twirling him around as if he had been the one who’d been accepted.

When he set Keith down, he had declared, _“This calls for a celebratory selfie! Come here!”_

They ended up taking way more pictures than intended, Keith recalled with a smile. He opened his phone and looked through his photos, scrolling through his memories until he found the bunch he was looking for. One selfie featured Keith showing off his letter shyly but with pride next to Lance who was grinning so hard his face could’ve split in half. As he flicked to the next, they slowly became more and more silly. Keith laughed lightly when he reached the last one which was his current homescreen.

Keith put his phone away and wrapped an arm around Lance’s shoulders. He turned his head and pressed his lips lightly against the top of his head. Lance continue to doze, oblivious to the world, while Keith lay wide awake.

He considered trying to pry himself out from under Lance so he could get some food, but the moment he tried, Lance shifted, mumbling, and his arm which had been curled up by his chest, stretched out and wrapped around Keith. His legs also shifted, tangling with Keith’s and he felt Lance’s lips form a small unconscious smile against his neck.

Keith’s eyes began to droop suddenly, soothed by the sound of Lance’s quiet snores, the feel of his breath, and the scent of his shampoo. He fell asleep within seconds of closing his eyes.

* * *

 

“C’mon, you have to wake up, buddy,” a quiet voice was pleading with him. “We need you. _I_ need you.”

_Lance._ He sounded so broken. What happened to make him sound so sad? He’d never reacted like that to Keith oversleeping. He was usually the one oversleeping anyway.

Keith blinked open his eyes, squinting against the light in the room. He became aware of beeping and sounds of machines whirring. He was in a hospital? Someone was clutching his hand for dear life. He turned his head to see Lance’s head hung low as he grasped Keith’s hand tightly in both of his own calloused hands. When had his hands become so rough? He has a crazy skincare routine.

“Lance?” he said drowsily.

Lance’s head jerked up. His eyes were wide and frantic, but his face flooded with relief when he saw Keith was awake. Keith smiled softly at him, automatically reaching out his free hand to brush against Lance’s cheek reassuringly. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he wished Lance would stop looking so distraught.

Lance looked shocked by Keith’s touch for some reason, his hands which tightly grasped Keith’s suddenly going slack.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked again, moving to sit up, but the sudden pain in his head made him wince and Lance snapped out of his shock, urging Keith to lie back down and not move. “Ow, what happened?”

“I-I don’t know,” Lance said shakily. “Pidge is trying to figure it out right now. She said…She said my touching you seems to stabilize your condition, b-but it was my touch which suddenly disrupted your condition to begin with.” Lance grip tightened around his hand desperately. “You suddenly went unconscious, Keith. You were so pale. You were barely breathing.”

Lance took in a shuddering breath, but before Keith could even begin to make sense of his words, Pidge’s voice was exclaiming, “What the hell!? His condition reverted right back to normal all of a sudden!”

He turned, only just now realizing it wasn’t just him and Lance in the room, but a ton of other people. Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Coran, and…Shiro? They all looked a little off, many clad in some sort of armor, and Shiro had a huge scar on his face and a full head of _white hair_. A few other strangers were also in the room. To his alarm, one of them was a blue glowing wolf-thing, and a tall purple woman stood next to it. A familiar blond girl stood near Allura, and Keith vaguely remembered her from one of his classes. Romelle, his mind supplied. They had been acquaintances and he remembered thinking her little brother’s name was sort of weird. Brandor, was it?

He focused back on the present and took note of his surroundings. He was not in a hospital, at least not in a regular hospital. All the machines looked like that were from some sci-fi movie. Strange orbs lit the room and all the beeping and whirring was disconcerting. He peered down at his own body, but he was in normal clothes, to his relief.

He sat up and immediately regretted it. There was a stabbing pain in his head, making it hard to think. Everyone was crowding at his side, trying to urge him to lie back down, but he batted all of them away with his free hand.

“Where am I?” he asked Lance, the most familiar person here, and who was also wearing regular clothes. “What is this place?”

Lance’s eyes widened and he asked, “You don’t remember where you are?”

“Should I? Were we kidnapped?” Keith asked back, feeling familiar panic bubbling beneath his chest.

It sounded absolutely ridiculous, like one of Keith’s wild fantasy dreams, being abducted by aliens, but there was a purple woman and an alien wolf right next to him, so he couldn’t rule anything out. Maybe he spent a bit too much time researching about extraterrestrial life and now he was having a realistic dream. The pain in his head began to stab like it was on a mission to provide Keith agony and he had to hold his head in his hand for a few moments to let it pass, his other hand tightening around Lance’s. Definitely not a dream then.

More like a nightmare come to life.

“Keith,” Shiro’s voice said, touching his shoulder tentatively.

Keith flinched nonetheless, looking at Shiro cautiously. A flash of hurt passed through Shiro’s eyes, making Keith feel slightly guilty, but he was terrified and Shiro didn’t look right. He was trembling all over, and only Lance was really familiar, so he clung to his hand for dear life.

“Do you remember me?” Shiro asked slowly.

“Shiro,” Keith answered shakily.

A bit of relief loosened Shiro’s features and he continued levelly, “Who else do you remember?”

Keith slowly let his eyes wander to the other people in the room and he listed them off slowly, each person showing a bit of relief when he said their name until he reached the purple woman and her pet.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before,” Keith said to her.

Shock paled everyone’s faces, and the woman looked like her life had just been torn to shreds before her. Keith blinked rapidly, not understanding why she was so hurt. They had never met, right?

The wolf’s ears suddenly turned down as he padded toward Keith. Keith looked at the wolf in alarm, scrambling back in his bed. The reaction caused the wolf’s ears to turn down further. Was it going to attack him for hurting its owner? But then a piteous whine left its throat and the woman knelt down, comforting the wolf and urging it to give Keith space.

“Keith,” Shiro said quietly. “She’s your mother. Krolia.”

The name didn’t ring a bell. He just shook his head a little, looking at Shiro helplessly.

“Can you tell us what you do remember?” Shiro prompted gently.

Keith relaxed a little at Shiro’s patience. Whatever his appearance, he was still Shiro. He turned to Lance on his other side, hoping for some support, but Lance still looked pale and uncertain.

He was a little off too, Keith realized. Not as much in appearance, but in his attitude. He only gripped Keith’s hand tightly and made no other attempt at physical contact. Keith loosened his grip and pried his hand away from Lance, who gave him a startled look as Keith curled in on himself, hugging his knees.

“I was just in bed,” Keith said, eyes flickering to Lance for a second before he looked back down, “with my boyfriend.”

He was conscious of everyone exchanging glances of bewilderment.

“On Earth,” he added, because he wasn’t too sure where he was. The addition was a cause for bigger shock on their part and Keith almost wanted to laugh but only out of hysteria. “I had woken up from a nightmare. It happens sometimes. I get…panic attacks. And L—my boyfriend usually calms me down. He calmed me down this morning—or whatever morning that was—and we went back to sleep.”

He shrugged. “That’s it really.”

“So wait, you don’t know anything about Voltron, or being a paladin, or even that you’re our current freaking leader?” Hunk asked in disbelief.

Keith looked at him with the same amount of disbelief. “That sounds like some bad kids show.”

“Ohh my gosh, this isn’t our Keith!” Lance shouted suddenly, standing up.

Keith shot Lance a glare and said miserably, “And you’re not _my_ Lance.”

Lance’s cheeks suddenly flushed, and Keith thought he was beautiful, but this wasn’t his boyfriend even if they looked and acted identically. Keith turned back to the other strangers who were identical to his friends. He let go of his knees and stretched his legs in front him as he stared at all of the people in the room thoughtfully.

He pointed at Pidge and said, “Pidge doesn’t wear glasses and her hair may be messy, but not that bad.”

“Hey!” Pidge patted her hair self-consciously.

He then pointed at Hunk next. “Hunk isn’t nearly as built as you are. He’s just a big squishy marshmallow and a delight all around.”

Hunk blushed bashfully. Keith let himself smile a little at the familiar reaction.

“Romelle’s just an acquaintance of mine at school so I don’t know really, but she doesn’t have those marks on her face. And she likes to talk about her brother a lot, Brandor or something.”

Romelle paled and she covered her mouth as a sob escaped. Keith felt a swell of panic and decided to move on to the next person quickly.

“Uhh, Allura also doesn’t have markings. And um…” Keith darted his gaze to Shiro, unsure if he should reveal their relationship. Shiro seemed to catch his gaze and looked alarmed. Keith decided he better not then. “She usually wears her hair down,” he finished a little lamely.

“I used to wear mine down,” Allura commented.

“Coran is Allura’s dad’s friend. Dunno him or her dad really.”

Both Allura and Coran reacted almost like Romelle did at the mention of Allura’s dad, and Keith was quickly learning to just move on quickly instead of questioning their reactions.

“Shiro…” Keith stared at Shiro, not sure which difference to bring up, and Shiro seemed to understand as his hand moved up to brush through his white hair. “Yeah…”

Keith’s hand finally faltered at Krolia and her companion. He wasn’t sure what to say, so he chose to say nothing, looking down at his lap. How was an alien his mother? I mean, he’s not even purple. In his life, he’d been brought up in the foster care system, never having met either of his parents, so maybe it was possible.

“Hey, what about me?” Lance’s indignant voice demanded.

He was just like Keith’s Lance, and a fond smile stretched across his face. Keith hid it in his hand until it he could school his features back into careful nonchalance. He turned to Lance, considering him. Everyone here was more toned than he knew them to be and this Lance was probably the same way under that green jacket. His own body was definitely a lot harder and broader.

Keith took his time examining Lance, and the boy stared back challengingly. He could not hide his overwhelming affection for this boy, he decided with a wistful sigh.

“Lance is beautiful,” was all Keith said before turning away and hugging his knees again.

Shocked silence followed and Keith hid his face in his arms, longing for his Lance, for his arms to hug him and his lips to kiss him.

“Sooo lemme get this straight,” Hunk’s voice broke the silence, “this Keith is just a normal guy living a normal life with normal versions of us as normal friends, save for his own mom and pet cosmic wolf? And Lance is his boyfriend?”

Lance spluttered at that, which both amused Keith and broke his heart, and Allura was asking, “Are _we_ not normal friends?”

“So he’s from an alternate reality?” Shiro said uncertainly.

“I don’t think so,” Pidge said, pushing her glasses up. She began to type on some glowing see-through screen. “Yes, his quintessence signature is identical to Keith, so it would be a valid theory, but I don’t see how the laser could manage to have enough power to actually tear through space-time to connect to a mind from an alternate reality. We may share the same quintessence in every version of ourselves, but it doesn’t connect our realities. If the laser did have that much power, it could easily have wiped us all out, but it barely affected the Black Lion and anyone in it, excluding the pilot which is Keith in this case.”

“Soooo, this _is_ our Keith?” Lance asked in confusion.

Pidge paused from her typing and looked up at Lance with a frown. “This is definitely a Keith from our reality, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s our Keith. He has a whole lifetime of his own memories completely separate from us as if he were from an alternate reality.”

Pidge began to ruffle her hair aggressively and made a noise of frustration. “None of this makes sense!”

Shiro said softly, “Isn’t it possible this _is_ our Keith though?”

Pidge looked at Shiro and understanding seemed to cross her face.

“The memories left in this body have become mine too,” Shiro continued, turning to the others.

Keith stared at Shiro in confusion. That’s not his body?

“He was given my whole life of memories, but in the end all of it was fabricated for him,” Shiro said solemnly. “He believed he was me, and he genuinely cared for all of you. I can remember all his regret at betraying all of you as if I could feel it myself.” Shiro’s piercing gaze landed on Keith. “And you got through to him, you know, when you fought. You brought him back to himself and he allowed me in. And I’ve accepted his memories as my own.”

Fabricated memories?

“What are you saying?” Keith asked.

“You have to let go of the fake memories and accept the real ones,” Shiro said, his voice shaking for the first time. “We’re what’s real, Keith.”

Shiro was telling him his whole life was a lie, that none of it was real.

Keith shook his head, frantically scrambling away from Shiro’s outstretched robotic hand. It couldn’t all be fabricated. It just couldn’t. He remembered growing up alone, always watching the stars. Shiro was his first friend once he left to college with the ambition of joining the Garrison’s space program. He researched extraterrestrial life. Keith had been closed off from everyone else, but Shiro always believed in Keith, he never gave up on him. He got him to open up, to became friends with Allura and Matt and Pidge, and through Pidge he met Hunk and—and—

And Lance, who came into his life like a fucking natural disaster, something inevitable and chaotic and devastatingly beautiful.

He remembered Lance’s loving smile and his stormy blue eyes. He remembered the scent of his shampoo and the fragrance of all his skincare products, he remembered his morning routine and night routine, he remembered the warmth of his arms, body, mouth on his own, comforting him through stressful nights; he knew the planes of Lance’s body, every sensitive spot, every bump and dip, just like Lance knew his; he knew the feeling of Lance beside him, on top of him, beneath him, inside him; he knew Lance like he knew stars in the sky.

But suddenly Keith wasn’t so sure. He suddenly remembered looking at his homescreen and questioning where the picture came from. He remembered lying next to Lance and crying as Lance said, _“Me too.”_

For fuck’s sake, he couldn’t even remember Lance’s major!

“You’re lying, it’s not true, I don’t believe it,” Keith’s voice shook and broke and cracked but he couldn’t stop, “I was just home, our home, our apartment…”

He held his aching head in his hands and continued trying to move as far as he could from all the _pity_ he saw in their expression. He didn’t want pity. He wanted them to stop lying.

He didn’t notice he had reached the other side of the bed-table he was laying on until trembling arms wrapped desperately tight around his waist. Lance’s scent wafted over him and Keith broke down in the horribly familiar embrace. He cried and cried and cried like he never had before, because he was accepting it. None of it had been real. He continued to cry even when he thought it couldn’t be possible he still had any water left in his body, and he continued even when his headache felt like literal explosions in his head, and he was certain he cried even when he passed out, Lance holding him through it all the while, like he always—never—did before.

* * *

 

“Keith…c’mon, Keith, sweetheart…please, tell me what’s wrong?” Lance implored.

Keith remained curled up in the blanket, Lance hovering over him uncertainly. Every time Lance tried to touch him, Keith flinched away, curling tighter in the blanket. Why was he being tortured with this cruel fantasy?

The boy next to him wasn’t real.

“Darling,” Lance whispered helplessly. “I can’t help if you won’t open up to me, corazón.”

Keith sobbed harder at the incredible softness in Lance’s voice. It was too cruel. How could anyone fabricate such perfection? Keith wanted nothing more than to crawl out of their blanket and let this Lance make him forget it all.

“Honey…sweetheart…Keeith…” Lance continued to beg sweetly, his voice breaking on Keith’s name. And Keith no longer had the will to reject him as Lance hugged his blanket-covered figure. He felt like he could actually hear Lance’s heart shattering.

“I’m here, Keith.”

_No you’re not._

“You’re not alone.”

_I am alone._

“I love you.”

Keith felt his breath hitch and then he dissolved into more sobs.

_Me too._

Keith didn’t know how long they stayed like that. He sobbed his heart out all over again in this false reality until finally— _finally—_ he was too tired to feel anything anymore and still Lance stayed, a comfortable weight over his curled figure.

Keith tried to sleep, but despite how tired he was, he couldn’t find sleep. So he laid listlessly. Lance occasionally begged him to respond.

It must have been hours, it might even have been a whole day, before Lance finally moved away from him, and Keith mourned his absence despite himself. He listened to Lance sliding off the bed, he listened to the rustling—Lance was changing clothes—and then he listened to the soft footfalls, the creaking door, open and then closed, and Lance was gone.

Keith waited a few minutes before finally crawling out of his tears-damp cocoon. His bladder still worked, so he had to go to the bathroom. He dared not look in the mirror, he knew he looked like shit. He most definitely felt like it.

Once he relieved his bladder and cleaned his hands, he crawled back into bed, willing sleep to come, but it stubbornly refused, because the world was set on torturing him in every way possible.

Keith’s stomach grumbled, and he grumbled angrily along with it before finally giving up on starving himself any longer. He was apparently some paladin that needed to defend the universe, so he couldn’t allow himself to die of starvation in some fake world some stupid laser either made up for him, or—even worse, got him to make up for himself so he wouldn’t want to leave.

He opened his door and peeked through it cautiously. He wasn’t sure if Lance had left their apartment or just the room, but when he saw no sign of the other boy, he walked out and served himself cereal.

“Stupid universe,” Keith mumbled around spoonfuls of cereal and milk. “Stupid lasers. Stupid Shiro. Stupid _Lance_.”

Keith dug his spoon more harshly into the bowl as he spat Lance’s name out.

“Wow, never thought I’d be hearing you say Lance’s name with so much spite ever again,” Pidge’s voice remarked.

Keith jumped in his seat, spilling a bit of milk onto the kitchen counter. Behind Pidge was the rest of his friends, all of them looking at him with an awful lot of concern, although Lance’s was also filled with hurt too and that made Keith’s chest clench painfully and he didn’t like that this Lance still made him _feel_ things, so he glared at him.

Everyone was taken aback, but no one more than Lance, whose eyes went misty as he recovered from his shock and glared back at Keith with more animosity than Keith had ever seen.

“When Lance said you seemed distant, I thought he was overreacting,” Pidge said, unfazed by Keith’s coldness, “but I never would’ve thought he was underexaggerating.”

“Keith, what’s wrong all of a sudden? This isn’t like you at all,” Shiro said in a chastising tone.

Keith dropped his spoon in his bowl and tried to walk past them all, but Shiro grabbed his arm. “Keith—“

“None of you are real!” Keith bit out at him.

Shiro was shocked enough that he grip went slack and Keith shoved past them, but before he could reach the door, pain exploded from his back and he was flying, landing on his stomach with a harsh thud, all his breath kicked out of him.

He scrambled onto his back and saw Pidge getting up and realized she had run over and hit him with a flying kick. She had the scariest expression Keith had ever had directed at him. It almost topped Lance’s hostile and betrayed expression.

“Is that real enough for you?” Pidge growled, stomping over to him with clenched fists. “Is that what this is all about? You think we’re not real friends? Not real enough to get angry and hurt from your actions?”

Keith stared in shock at Pidge’s fury-filled face. She straddled his stomach, roughly pulling him up by his shirt clenched tightly in her fist.

“Reality check, Keith,” she snarled and then her other hand was sucker-punching his face, “we are real!”

“Pidge!” Allura gasped.

And then Hunk was pulling Pidge off of Keith, who remained stunned on the floor as tears fell from Pidge’s face, some of which had landed on his face. Hunk looked down at him with a disapproving frown.

“Punch him! Kick him!” Lance cheered in the background.

Keith’s cheek was quickly swelling and suddenly his head was aching again. He sat up and winced, holding his tender head in his hands.

“Oh, come on, I didn’t punch you that hard,” Pidge huffed.

“It’s not that. It’s just I… I don’t know anything about you guys,” Keith said weakly, and then he was holding his head in his hands not just because of the pain, but because he was truly, truly miserable. “I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember any of your majors. I’m actually having a hard time remembering my own, come to think of it.” He let out a bitter laugh at the realization. “I knew it yesterday.”

“Keith?” Lance’s voice was close, so beloved, so concerned, even though he’d been wanting to punch and kick Keith just seconds ago. Keith’s love was in front of him, falling to his knees so he could look at Keith’s face, but Keith stubbornly stared at the floor. “Keith, what are you talking about?”

This time Keith let himself laugh, hysterical and bitter, but he wanted to explain so before his disconcerting laughter became too uncontrollable, Keith stifled it, a few crazed giggled escaping past his hands which covered his mouth.

“I don’t even remember how we met, Lance,” Keith said mournfully, finally looking up at him. He almost flinched at the fear he saw in Lance’s eyes, but he held his gaze steady. “Shiro said you’re all a fabrication of my mind.”

“I never said that,” Shiro said, looking thoroughly alarmed as everyone turned to him.

Allura stood next to him with her hands clasped over her mouth in horror, and Keith wanted to laugh again, remembering how the other Allura had reacted the same way when Keith mentioned her father being alive in this world.

Keith felt a tinge of both alarm and sadness at being able to remember Allura’s dad was dead in his other—his real life. He couldn’t randomly pick out memories he remembered, but he knew some were there, coming and going like his memories were all shuffling around and becoming more and more obscure.

“Whatever. If I can’t remember…it’s not real,” Keith whispered.

“Keith,” Lance breathed, wrapping him up tight in his arms—just like the other Lance had done, trembling and all. “It _is_ real, Keith, even if you can’t remember it suddenly. We’ll remember it for you, love.”

Lance showered his forehead with kisses, and seemed to kiss away the aches and pain there.

“Tell us what you do remember, cariño,” Lance murmured, pulling back and giving Keith a watery smile.

Keith stared into Lance’s stormy blue eyes and loving smile. He reveled in the warm of Lance’s body heat and the scent of his shampoo and the faint fragrance of skincare product. Keith reached for Lance’s arm, pulling it away from his neck and Lance’s smile faltered, but Keith gave him a small reassuring smile. Though it was shaky, Lance’s soft expression didn’t falter any farther.

He continued to tug at Lance’s arm until his hand was removed from Keith’s shoulder, and he brought his other hand up, pressing their palms together. Lance’s eyes widened slightly, but Keith held his gaze and interlocked their fingers.

_I love you._

“I remember this.”

Tears dropped from Lance’s red-rimmed eyes and he seemed to laugh and weep at the same time, holding Keith’s hand so tightly it hurt, and Keith reveled in the realness of that pain too.

The rest of his friends began to gather around him, sitting on the floor with him as he shared whatever he could remember, keeping his fingers twined with Lance’s all the while. He recalled so many trivial details. He marveled in the way he could talk about everything and nothing, his friends reminding him of other events, not taking it personally when he couldn’t recall it. They just continued to remember for him. And it was real to Keith, even if he couldn’t remember it.

They eventually ended up talking through the night on the couches. Shiro, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge squished on the other couch while Lance and Keith hogged the other. Their murmuring voices continued even as Keith began to nod off.

Keith knew what would happen if he slept and he fought it. He wanted to stay in the comfort his found family, but Lance reached over with his free hand—his other one still twined with Keith’s—to urge Keith to rest his head on Lance’s shoulder. Keith obliged and pressed one last kiss against Lance’s neck.

* * *

 

Keith’s head had a dull ache when he woke up. He wanted to groan, but that would only make the pain flare up. He was so tired of the pressure in his head.

A hand wrapped around his startled him to full consciousness and he saw Lance in the chair by his bed, leaning on his bedside to nap. Lance seemed to have grabbed his hand unconsciously as if—as if he was used to it. Keith felt a twinge of affection for the boy, but he stamped the feeling away, replaced by alarm at his reaction to seeing Lance.

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat, unsure what was going on. He felt all out of sorts, like he’d been sleeping for a week. He glanced around and figured he was still in Frira. For a second he wondered why they weren’t in the castleship and shook his head a little despite the ache for his stupidity. The castle’s gone, he remembered not too happily.

Keith tried prying his hand away carefully so as not to wake the dozing boy, but that was an utter fail because that was exactly what happened. Lance shifted, mumbling something and then he was sitting up, blinking away sleep.

He saw Keith was awake and startled into full alertness. Keith snorted. He’d basically woken the same way. He tugged at his hand again, and Lance only then realized he was still holding Keith’s hand. He squawked, his hand flying back and almost bringing him and the chair stumbling to the ground with the force of the movement.

“Um, hi,” Keith said.

Lance’s face flushed a dark red suddenly and he shifted around uncomfortably. “Hi,” he murmured back. Keith frowned at his strange attitude, but decided to ignore it in favor of getting some answers.

“How long have I been out?” he asked.

“Oh—uh, the whole day,” Lance answered, sitting upright.

“I feel like I’ve been asleep for ages,” Keith groaned, rubbing his face. “Where are the others. Has Pidge figured anything out?”

It was Lance’s turn to frown in confusion. “Do you not… Wait. What do you remember?” he demanded suddenly.

Keith was startled by the sudden change in attitude and ended up answering honestly, “I remember Pidge was going to rest, Hunk was going to make sure she did, you were going help disentangle me, and we touched and there was pain and then I was out.”

Keith frowned, scratching his head. It felt like he was missing something, but he couldn’t quite remember. Oh yeah, usually when he slept lately, he always had vivid…dreams.

Suddenly everything about his current situation came back to him. It was like a bucket of cold water being poured over him, the way he froze and the way the memories assaulted him. As for Lance, he was gaping at Keith in disbelief and…something else. Keith took a moment to recognize _disappointment._ Lance was disappointed Keith wasn’t completely in love with him anymore?

“So fucking convenient for you…” Lance muttered under his breath, slouching down in his seat and crossing his arms.

Suddenly Pidge burst into the room completely out of breath, hair as wild as ever, eyes wide, and glasses askew. Hunk soon followed, completely out of breath. The rest of their team soon caught up too, alongside Romelle and his mom and wolf. Keith took a moment to remember why Shiro’s hair was white, the memory coming to him sluggishly. Pidge stared at Keith for a long while before suddenly screeching. Just screeching. Everyone flinched as she let it out.

When she finished she pointed at Keith and yelled, “WE FIGURED IT OUT!”

“What?” Lance and Keith said at the same time.

“I thought there was nothing else to figure out!” Lance added, standing from his chair.

“Well, I still wanted to get _our_ Keith back so Hunk and I got to working on the laser to see if we could reverse engineer it so we could build a counter laser that would bring Keith’s memories back, and well, erase the other stuff—if he wanted,” Pidge explained excitedly. She pointed at Keith triumphantly. “What we figured out instead is that you are most definitely NOT our Keith! Well, actually, you literally are Keith, but I mean you have separate lives, and neither are fake! So you may stop angsting around because we can return you to your beloved Lance.”

“Uh,” Keith started, but Pidge continued without taking any notice of him. “It was sort of out there, but once I thought about it, it made sense. And after analyzing the laser, I am almost 110 percent sure I’m right. Our Keith has been exposed to a dark star before, and spent a long period of time near it where time was a little different. Krolia told me Keith and her stayed on that whale for two years! Of course, it had lasting effects.”

“Pidge.”

“Calm down, normal-Keith, we’ll put you in your rightful place soon enough,” Pidge said, waving him off. “Time collapses around dark stars. The laser really was supposed to obliterate Keith out of existence using this energy similar to—“

“Summarize it, Pidge,” Lance bit out.

Pidge pursed her lips at Lance then sighed. “Long story short, the long exposure Keith’s body had around the dark star allowed him to survive the blast. He was partly immune to the energy used in the laser. The effect it had instead was slowly turning Keith into a sort of dark star himself. His own time was collapsing, that’s why his memories became all wonky.”

Keith nodded in understanding.

“Still doesn’t explain ‘normal-Keith’,” Lance said, tilting his head in confusion.

“Yeah, that was the out-there part,” Pidge said, grinning hard. “If normal-Keith was out of the equation, our Keith would’ve have a shorter timespan to crinkle up and he would just die sooner.”

“Keith’s gonna die?!” Lance exclaimed.

“Relax, he’s got time. Now, listen to this,” Pidge said with a grin. “Normal-Keith is our Keith’s reincarnation. He’s his _past_. They are the same person within the same reality! They just have lives that occur during different times very far apart from each other. It seems like they sort of parallel each other like an alternate reality, but that’s hardly surprising. After all, history repeated itself.”

“It’s an eerily true statement,” Hunk interjected with a shudder.

Keith didn’t respond. He was still too stuck on the _reincarnation_ part.

And apparently Lance was too as he choked out, “ _Reincarnation_?! That’s a thing?”

“Anything is possible,” Hunk said with a shrug. “After traveling to an alternate reality, I believe pretty much anything. I don’t know if I’m open-minded or gullible anymore.”

Pidge nodded and continued, “Hunk mentioned Keith was having dreams in his almost-dead-sleep state, but those weren’t dreams, they must have been memories! At first, at least. The deterioration usually quickens or lessens depending on Keith’s emotional state, and it was especially strong when Keith sleeps and his mind tries to retreat to the body that hadn’t been directly affected by the laser and dark star. You could say normal-Keith was his mind’s safe haven while he slept. Pretty soon though, the effects should start getting to normal-Keith in that time too.”

“So he’s gonna start getting crazy memories of being some defender of the universe when he’s just a normal kid?” Shiro asked worriedly.

“Well…yeah, but I’m sure it hasn’t happened yet,” Pidge said with a shrug.

Keith frowned at her, because yes it did, Pidge.

“You know what this means?” Pidge said, smirking at Lance. “It means your love with Keith spans across _lifetimes_.”

Keith blinked and then he was blushing, but when he looked at Lance from behind, he could see his ears were completely red too, and Keith felt less embarrassed, knowing he wasn’t alone.

But wait. Wouldn’t that mean that Lance, _his_ Lance, teammate and paladin Lance, returned his feelings?

Lance covered his face and groaned, “Pidge, that’s not normal-Keith right now. That’s our Keith, and he doesn’t love me, dammit.” He then stiffened and turned to Keith, adding hastily, “Not that I love you or anything.”

Pidge blinked and looked at Keith who nodded awkwardly at her. She snorted, “My statement still applies, you oblivious idiots. Alright, say cheese, Keith.”

“What the—“

“CHEESE!” Pidge shouted as she pulled out a laser gun and shot Keith.

It was a strange sensation. It wasn’t like all the pain of his timespan collapsing within his mind. He felt like he was unfolding, stretching out, opening up, vulnerable in the way that you are when right after waking up on a warm, sunny morning and you stretch out all the stiffness in your body. The ache and pressure behind his skull _finally_ eased to nothing and his memories seemed to iron themselves out back into their proper places, vague and mixed up as the original memories might be. Slowly, memories of Lance’s stormy blue eyes and his loving smile and his shampoo and his kisses and his soft hands all faded away like a waking from a wonderful dream, always such a bittersweet thing but you smile when you awaken anyway.

Keith felt so so open for the world to see, but he didn’t mind it, because it was his family around him and they would accept him no matter what, he knew. When the sensation finally faded, he felt like he was falling, and he slumped into warm, achingly familiar arms. He sighed contentedly, leaning to the warmth and breathing in Lance’s fragrance.

“You back, mullet?” Lance asked.

“Unfortunately,” he quipped and Lance pushed him away with a snort.

Before he could pull away fully, Keith caught his hand with a playful smile and a dark blush was flattering Lance’s face once again. Lance seemed to be looking everywhere but at Keith, so he brushed his fingers under the dodgy boy’s chin. The touch immediately stilled the boy and Keith urged Lance’s head to turn to look at him.

Ocean eyes stared back at Keith, and Keith’s world fell away from him, with only those starstruck eyes and open mouth and calloused palm. Lance gazed at Keith intently, as if trying to speak through his eyes. His heart skip a beat as Lance shyly twined their fingers together and Keith caught the message.

_I love you._

Keith leaned in and kissed him.

_Me too._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading till the end! Feel free to leave a comment and all that!


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